Eating Behaviour
Explanations for food preferences: the evolutionary explanation
• Survival requirements: need for a varied diet, need to avoid potentially toxic foods
• Preferences: developed based on tastes that indicate energy and aversions to tastes that indic
toxins
• Neophobia: innate predisposition to avoid new foods to reduce the risk of unfamiliar objects,
experiences and activities until we learn that they are safe, diminishes once it has served its pur
• Evaluation: Birch (1999) most pronounced in children between 2 and 6, explained as they beg
learn their environment independently as to what is safe and not safe to eat, potentially new foo
can be harmful to health, making neophobia adaptive, ensures that we survive
• Neophobia- adaptation that was beneficial to our ancestor’s survival chances, now is
maladaptive, most of the food is brought from retailers so is safer and more plentiful than ev
before, it restricts the variety of children’s diet by limiting what they eat, its an evolutionary
adaptation that we don’t need
• Taste aversion: we acquire certain taste aversions or fears more quickly than others, generally
objects/ situations that posed the greatest threat to our ancestor’s survival, we’re genetically
hardwired to learn taste aversions that make us less likely to eat food that is harmful, bitter food
usually a reliable warning of toxins
• Evaluation: Garcia et al (1977) investigated wolves and taste aversion, fed them lamb treate
with mild poison, meat wrapped in sheepskin, wolves were sick, wolves approached the sheep an
avoided them
, • Steiner (1977) found evidence of negative facial expressions in response to bitter tastes,
occurred before any learning of taste preference, suggesting innate mechanisms
• I and D: nomothetic- produces general laws, biological/ hard determinism, no cultural
differences
Explanation for food preferences: the role of learning
• Social influences: explained through SLT (modelling and imitation), children will get food
preferences from role models they observe eating certain foods, especially if they are rewarded
children eat food that are obviously safe as others are eating them without harm
• Family influences: family in charge of the food we have access to
• Peer influences: friends ask to go to Kfc/ Morrison's for lunch
• Media influences: use of adverts to sell food, children food are often bright and colourful, use
characters
• Evaluation: Birch (1980) sat children next to each other with different veg preferences, sat
together for 4 days, after they changed preferences, these stayed for at least a month
• Cultural influences: we learn around the family table when, what and how much to eat, we le
the cultural ‘rules’ of preferences
• Cultural norms: fish on Fridays, roast dinners on a Sunday, turkey at Christmas
• Meat eating: cultural has an effect on types of meat and how much of the animal we eat
• Cultural and learning: culture has an effect on the associations, emotions and memories we
have of certain foods
, • Evaluation: food availability- increased availability is accompanied by a decline in family
mealtimes and cooking, in USA- 46% of spending is on food eaten outside the house, adolescents
spend 30% of their meals outside the house
• Lowe et al (1998) found that ‘food duded’ (cool older children who were enthusiastic about
influenced younger children’s food preferences, and increased their intake of fruit and vegeta
• I and D: environmental determinism, interaction between nature and nurture, hard to determ
food preferences, hard to scientifically test
Neural and hormonal mechanisms involved in the control of eati
beh
• Neural explanations: focus of the activity of brain structures (hypothalamus and neurotransmit
• Hormonal explanations: consider the actions of these chemicals that circulate in the blood and
help to control and regulate the activity of certain cells and organs
• Role of the hypothalamus: a crucial role in integrating the nervous and endocrine system, wor
ensure that we maintain a level of homeostasis, balancing bodily processes within the certain lim
• Lateral hypothalamus: activated when you are hungry to make you start eating, due to fall of
glucose levels, makes us feel hungry, triggers motivation to eat, search and prepare food
• Neurotransmitter neuropeptide (NPY) is secreted, associated with hunger and reduction in
physical activity
• Ventro-medial hypothalamus: activated when you are full to stop you eating, glucose levels ro
to sufficient levels, levels are detected by V-MH, causing lateral hypothalamus activity to stop
Explanations for food preferences: the evolutionary explanation
• Survival requirements: need for a varied diet, need to avoid potentially toxic foods
• Preferences: developed based on tastes that indicate energy and aversions to tastes that indic
toxins
• Neophobia: innate predisposition to avoid new foods to reduce the risk of unfamiliar objects,
experiences and activities until we learn that they are safe, diminishes once it has served its pur
• Evaluation: Birch (1999) most pronounced in children between 2 and 6, explained as they beg
learn their environment independently as to what is safe and not safe to eat, potentially new foo
can be harmful to health, making neophobia adaptive, ensures that we survive
• Neophobia- adaptation that was beneficial to our ancestor’s survival chances, now is
maladaptive, most of the food is brought from retailers so is safer and more plentiful than ev
before, it restricts the variety of children’s diet by limiting what they eat, its an evolutionary
adaptation that we don’t need
• Taste aversion: we acquire certain taste aversions or fears more quickly than others, generally
objects/ situations that posed the greatest threat to our ancestor’s survival, we’re genetically
hardwired to learn taste aversions that make us less likely to eat food that is harmful, bitter food
usually a reliable warning of toxins
• Evaluation: Garcia et al (1977) investigated wolves and taste aversion, fed them lamb treate
with mild poison, meat wrapped in sheepskin, wolves were sick, wolves approached the sheep an
avoided them
, • Steiner (1977) found evidence of negative facial expressions in response to bitter tastes,
occurred before any learning of taste preference, suggesting innate mechanisms
• I and D: nomothetic- produces general laws, biological/ hard determinism, no cultural
differences
Explanation for food preferences: the role of learning
• Social influences: explained through SLT (modelling and imitation), children will get food
preferences from role models they observe eating certain foods, especially if they are rewarded
children eat food that are obviously safe as others are eating them without harm
• Family influences: family in charge of the food we have access to
• Peer influences: friends ask to go to Kfc/ Morrison's for lunch
• Media influences: use of adverts to sell food, children food are often bright and colourful, use
characters
• Evaluation: Birch (1980) sat children next to each other with different veg preferences, sat
together for 4 days, after they changed preferences, these stayed for at least a month
• Cultural influences: we learn around the family table when, what and how much to eat, we le
the cultural ‘rules’ of preferences
• Cultural norms: fish on Fridays, roast dinners on a Sunday, turkey at Christmas
• Meat eating: cultural has an effect on types of meat and how much of the animal we eat
• Cultural and learning: culture has an effect on the associations, emotions and memories we
have of certain foods
, • Evaluation: food availability- increased availability is accompanied by a decline in family
mealtimes and cooking, in USA- 46% of spending is on food eaten outside the house, adolescents
spend 30% of their meals outside the house
• Lowe et al (1998) found that ‘food duded’ (cool older children who were enthusiastic about
influenced younger children’s food preferences, and increased their intake of fruit and vegeta
• I and D: environmental determinism, interaction between nature and nurture, hard to determ
food preferences, hard to scientifically test
Neural and hormonal mechanisms involved in the control of eati
beh
• Neural explanations: focus of the activity of brain structures (hypothalamus and neurotransmit
• Hormonal explanations: consider the actions of these chemicals that circulate in the blood and
help to control and regulate the activity of certain cells and organs
• Role of the hypothalamus: a crucial role in integrating the nervous and endocrine system, wor
ensure that we maintain a level of homeostasis, balancing bodily processes within the certain lim
• Lateral hypothalamus: activated when you are hungry to make you start eating, due to fall of
glucose levels, makes us feel hungry, triggers motivation to eat, search and prepare food
• Neurotransmitter neuropeptide (NPY) is secreted, associated with hunger and reduction in
physical activity
• Ventro-medial hypothalamus: activated when you are full to stop you eating, glucose levels ro
to sufficient levels, levels are detected by V-MH, causing lateral hypothalamus activity to stop
